Not The Last
by Sydella
Summary: Byakuran tries to eliminate his two strongest opponents in all parallel worlds, but he plays a dangerous game and even he can't win all the time.


Tsunayoshi Sawada, head of Vongola Corporation, gripped the armrests of his swivel chair as he watched a video. It wasn't just any video. It was a short propaganda film starring a dictator whose very name Tsuna had grown to detest. _Byakuran_. The dictator's smirking face filled the screen, words like _perfect world _and _rightful ruler _spilling from his lips.

The video ended and Tsuna stared out a window at the glittering Tokyo skyline. Strategically located in the heart of the city, the headquarters of Vongola Corporation was an imposing skyscraper, a symbol of status and power. The corporation's vice president, Hayato Gokudera, had once jokingly said that if the building could talk, it would say "Don't mess with me." However, even the strongest fortress can be invaded by powerful enemies. Tsuna ran a hand through his spiky brown hair, wondering if Byakuran was going to make a move on Vongola Corporation soon. After all, they were one of the very few organizations truly capable of opposing the dictator.

Someone knocked on the door to his office. "Enter," Tsuna called out wearily.

His visitor entered wordlessly. Tsuna shuffled some documents on his desk and didn't look up to see who he or she was, assuming that one of his subordinates was stopping by to deliver a report. "Well, what have you got for me?" he asked.

"You really should have considered tightening your security, Tsunayoshi-kun," a coldly polite voice responded.

Tsuna's heart froze in his throat. He raised his gaze, just in time to see Byakuran pull the trigger on a silencer. Seconds later, the head of Vongola Corporation slumped over his desk, blood seeping from a fatal wound on his chest.

Byakuran smiled. "You are the first of many," he declared with chilling finality.

Tsunayoshi Sawada, leader of a small tribe in a post-apocalyptic world, ventured out of his home and blinked as his eyes adjusted to the weak sunlight outdoors. In the past, the small town of Namimori had enjoyed mild weather all year round, but climates all over the world had changed for the worse ever since Byakuran took over.

The sudden sound of approaching footsteps attracted Tsuna's attention and he turned. A girl who appeared to be about the same age as him emerged from a nearby alley and looked around furtively, as if searching for someone. She caught sight of Tsuna and jumped. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't see you there."

"That's all right." Tsuna glanced curiously at the girl's clothing. She was dressed in a flowing white cape and underneath it, a midriff-baring top and shorts of the same colour. To top it all off, she also wore an enormous mushroom-shaped hat. He politely refrained from commenting and instead asked, "Are you looking for someone?"

"Well, yes. Actually, I'm looking for Byakuran," the girl replied. Seeing the look on Tsuna's face, she hurriedly added, "Don't worry, I'm not on his side. In fact, I'm definitely on his hit list. I'm looking for him because I have arranged to meet him for negotiations, as much as I don't want to. I'm the leader of my clan, you see."

"Negotiations?" Tsuna repeated. He knew better than to trust someone he had just met, but the girl somehow came across as utterly sincere.

"Yes, negotiations," the girl said. Then she smiled sheepishly. "Oh, but where are my manners? My name is Yuni."

"I'm Tsuna. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands.

"Would you like me to keep you company while you wait?" Tsuna offered.

Yuni beamed. "Yes, please. Thank you."

The two teenagers stood side by side in companionable silence, both lost in their own thoughts. The silence was eventually broken by a man's voice. "Well, well. It's good to see you again, Yuni-chan."

_Byakuran! _Tsuna tensed at the sight of the dictator. All white hair, frail-looking figure and effusive charm, Byakuran looked completely harmless, but if Tsuna had learned anything from the apocalypse that Byakuran had caused, it was that appearances are deceiving. Yuni gave Tsuna a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring, and walked to where Byakuran was standing. She then began to walk away, with Byakuran easily matching her pace. Looking back over her shoulder, she called out, "Don't worry. We'll see each other again."

Byakuran, too, looked back at him. "You heard what the lady said, Tsunayoshi-kun. Run along, now."

Ever the well-mannered Japanese boy, Tsuna bowed and returned to his home, relieved that the dictator apparently hadn't considered him important enough to prolong their brief interaction. Only later that day did it occur to him that he had never told Byakuran his name.

Prince Tsunayoshi Sawada of the Vongola Empire watched in despair as all his loved ones were executed by the barbarian invader Byakuran. One by one, they were all beheaded until Byakuran slowly turned to face the prince, grinning maniacally. Brandishing an axe, the invader smirked at Tsuna. "Any last words?"

Tsuna could hardly hear anything above the din of his pounding heart. Everything seemed to slow down as he hung his head, refusing to look his soon-to-be killer in the eye. The only thing he could think of to say was, "Perhaps in another life, you will meet your match."

If Tsuna had looked up in his final moments, he would have observed something rather odd: A look of anger and fear momentarily crossed Byakuran's face before the axe came swinging downwards.

As a young adult in his mid-twenties, Tsunayoshi Sawada listlessly played video games every day while his peers held well-paying jobs and settled down in loving marriages. Tsuna's parents had long since given up on their only son and resigned themselves to the fact that Tsuna was indeed, as many of his peers had correctly assumed, useless.

He even died a useless death. One hot summer day when the inhabitants of Namimori were ruthlessly slaughtered by a strange white-haired man, he died in his sleep at his desk, having thoroughly exhausted himself after playing video games nonstop for two days. The white-haired mass murderer shook his head upon seeing this, feeling a mixture of pity and amusement.

An old man living in a small village, Tsunayoshi Sawada had few visitors and was not particularly wealthy, but lived comfortably enough. His needs were few and simple, and he had a calm, pacifistic nature. Even when a man from his village burst into his house, shouting frantically that the warlord Byakuran was heading for their village with obvious intentions to raze the whole place to the ground, Tsuna did not panic, but instead contemplated a collection of clams on a nearby shelf, as if they were the most interesting things in the world. "Calm yourself, my dear sir," he said gently to the man.

The hapless villager wrung his hands. "How can I possibly do that? Did you not hear what I just said? Byakuran is going to kill us all!"

"I know," Tsuna replied softly. "Well, we all have to die sooner or later, don't we?"

The man opened his mouth to reply, but never got another chance to speak, because a poisoned arrow flew towards him and sank into his skull before he had time to react. As he collapsed, the warlord Byakuran emerged from the shadows surrounding Tsuna's hut, like a demon emerging from the underworld. He looked at Tsuna and smiled cruelly. "Ready to die, old man?"

Tsuna picked up one of the clams. "Go ahead." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Byakuran gleefully nocking another poisoned arrow. Cradling the clam, Tsuna said, just loud enough for Byakuran to hear, "You may have killed me today, but someday, someone will definitely be strong enough to defeat you."

The warlord's eyes narrowed, and the arrow took flight.

Nana and Iemitsu Sawada slept the exhausted, dreamless sleep of first-time parents. A young doctor named Yuni fed their newborn son, Tsunayoshi, warm bottled milk. She smiled fondly when the infant opened wide brown eyes and looked up at her curiously.

Her assistant, Gamma, entered the room and peered at Tsuna. "Everything all right?" Gamma asked.

"Yes," Yuni answered, carefully tucking the infant back into his crib. She paused and turned to face Gamma. "Except for, you know, _that _matter."

Gamma nodded. "Since this Tsunayoshi Sawada has just been born, we don't have much chance of defeating Byakuran in this world, do we?"

"No," Yuni agreed sadly. "No, we don't."

With all the swagger and recklessness of a teenage rebel, Tsunayoshi Sawada sauntered into a high school classroom for the very first time. "This Calculus 101?" he asked the mostly empty room. Without waiting for an answer, he chose a seat at random and sat down. The few other students in the room, all of them female, glanced over at him and giggled. "Ooh," one of them whispered to the others. "Hot guy alert."

Apparently having heard her, Tsuna sent her a flirtatious wink. Emboldened by this gesture and her friends' encouraging nudges, she sidled over to him and sat down as close to him as possible, her knees almost touching his.

"Hi," she chirped, twirling a lock of hair around a finger.

"Hi yourself," he replied, amused. Then he tilted his head and gave her a puzzled look.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"Nah. It's just that I feel like I've seen you before." Tsuna continued to regard her intently.

She giggled nervously. "Don't be silly. Anyway, my name is Yuni."

"Cool name. I'm Tsuna."

The conversation would have proceeded further had the teacher not entered at that moment. He glanced at Tsuna and Yuni. "All right, everyone, settle down. I'd like to get this over with as much as you do."

Yuni sighed, disappointed, and slid into a seat behind Tsuna. As she rummaged in her schoolbag to retrieve her books, she had a strange feeling that she was being observed. Looking up, she saw that the teacher was staring at her and Tsuna with an eerie look in his eyes that chilled her to the core. She glanced at Tsuna and noted that he looked as unnerved as she felt.

The teacher turned away, but the eerie look didn't leave his eyes. "Welcome to Calculus 101," he intoned, sounding like any other bored high school teacher. "You may call me Mr. Byakuran. Just Byakuran is also fine."

In the depths of a war-torn wasteland, a bomb shelter was one of the few things left relatively undamaged, though not for long. An otherworldly monstrosity appropriately named Ghost strode purposefully through the land, never taking its eyes off the shelter. Meanwhile, two children, a boy and a girl, wept and clung to each other fearfully as they watched Ghost approach their hiding place.

"What are we going to do, Yuni?" the boy wailed. "It's going to kill us! Everyone we know has been killed by that monster!"

The girl shook her head, drying her tears on a sleeve of her white dress. "We can't do anything, Tsuna. We might as well just accept our fate. Before we die, though, there's something I need to tell you."

Something about her resolute manner reassured him, and the two children looked calmly at each other as Ghost slowly entered the shelter and raised a transparent arm, the same arm that had destroyed the children's homeland. "What do you need to tell me, Yuni?" Tsuna asked.

She squared her shoulders and steadied herself. Beside her, Tsuna did the same, and the children stared into the emotionless eyes of the monster that was about to kill them.

Yuni's response, when it came, echoed with the dying screams, battle cries and whispered promises of infinite realities. "We have died over and over again in this war, in many worlds and across many lifetimes. But there is still one remaining world in which our enemy can and will be defeated. We are not the last."


End file.
